This website is dedicated to the rock band group Fujifabric. I hope that through this site, as many people as possible will be able to discover their music and songs.
This site offers an English translation of all their lyrics. In the posts on the blog, brief insights, which give some back ground and explanation to the many reference made in the lyrics to Japanese traditions, culture and life.
Looking forward to feedback and comments! Enjoy!

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Masahiko Shimura's fans and Fujifabric fans out there, I am delighted to tell you a good news today!

This coming July 2013, 'Masahiko Shimura's Birthday Events' will be held in Fujiyoshida City to celebrate his birthday, 10th July.

Details are followed ;

Friday, July 12, 2013'The Night Celebrating Masahiko Shimura's Birthday' ~ The First NightLocation : at Live Bar, Jugemu in Fujiyoshida City
(Please see this link for more details. Jugemu
No English translation is available of the website, but if you are interested in, please send me an email at jrtinbkk@gmail.com. I am happy to send you a map in English.)Time : 7 pm

Saturday, July 13, 2013'Mini Concert Of Playing & Singing Masahiko Shimura's Songs'Location : at Shimo Yoshida Club in Shimo Yoshida Station on the Fuji Kyuko Line
(Please see this link for more details. Shimo Yoshida Station English language is available in this website.)Time : 2 pm (expected to be finished at around 4 pm)
No Entrance Fee is required.

Sunday, July 14, 2013'Mini Concert Of Playing & Singing Masahiko Shimura's Songs'Location : at Kagura-den (Kagura Hall) in Arakura Sengen Shrine (A part of the shrine is used as a park.)
(Please see this link for more details. Arakura Sengen Park English language is available in this website.)

Time : 2 pm (expected to be finished at around 4 pm)
No Entrance Fee is required.

Fuji Goko Acoustic Guitar Club is now looking for musicians who are willing to join their concert. No matter whether you are a amateur or a professional musician. If you love Fujifabric songs and you are happy to play and sing Fujifabric songs, then you are most welcome!

If you are interested in this event, please send me an email at this address :jrtinbkk@gmail.com

I am very glad to give you further information and connect you with event organizers.

Mr. Susumu Ito, Executive Chairperson of these events, said to me on the phone, "Exhibitions held in December are a little sad as it is the time that Shimura kun passed away. So this time, I just wanted to celebrate his birth in a cheerful mood with people in the city and Fujifabric fans at around his birthday, 10th July."

Mr. Ito read the notebooks put on the table at the exit in Exhibition in 2011. There, Fujifabric fans wrote massages, and many of them said, "I was moved by views, people and many many more things in Fujiyoshida City." admiring his hometown.
He felt a sense of mission as a citizen of Fujiyoshida that he ought to make his hometown be deserved for such a praise.

Shimura kun simply loved music - he immersed himself in music.
He even said, "I don't want to be a man who is all right without music.".

What a fabulous event celebrating Shimura kun's birthday with people who love him so much from the bottom of their heart by playing and singing the music he made!

If you are thinking of visiting Fujiyoshida City sometime around his birthday, how about going down there during these wonderful events?
It would be your unforgettable memory, I promise!!

Fans in overseas, and non-Japanese fans living in Japan,would you help me to spread this information to your friends? It is much appreciated.
Thank you!!

Thursday, 9 May 2013

23rd December 2012
It was a bright sunny day in Fujiyoshida City.
Mt. Fuji kept a watch on us with hanging over snow smoke in a freezing cold air.

Since the day before the Exhibition, a lot of preparation had been taken in Shimo-Yoshida Club (a cafe opened for travelers) in Shimo-Yoshida Station on the Fujikyuko Line.

Here, his friends took ... Shimura kun's motor bike that he actually rode in Tokyo!

The motor bike was shown also in the exhibition in 2011.
It was a warm thoughtfulness of his friends for the fans who missed it two years ago.

It was still as shiny as before, and that shows how much his family takes care of it. This time, his bicycle was also displayed.

When imagining these are the bikes which actually took Shimura kun to a supermarket or his office, it was quite moving... Thank you, Bikes, for carrying Shimura kun and supporting him in his everyday life!

Many of his pictures were displayed on the day in Shimo-Yoshida Club.

Some of you might remember that there were high school students' and their teacher's writings displayed on the wall at the stair hall at the exhibition in 2011, and they met with an enthusiastic reception from the guests at that time.

This time, in 2012, a reading space for the writings was specially set up at Shimo-Yoshida Club on the 23rd, and at Fuji Goko Cultural Centre on the 24th. A male fan was interviewed by CATV Fuji Goko, a local TV station, and said, "High school students' writings got to my heart. I felt love.".
It was just so... moving!

Mr. Kazuyuki Kobayashi, a Japanese language teacher at Yamanashi Prefectural Josai High School in Kofu City, took up the lyrics written by Masahiko Shimura as a topic in his writing class, and his attempt was highly evaluated and has been reported in the local newspaper, Yamanashi Daily Newspaper in June 2011.

Today, please let me introduce you one of the fascinating students' writings about the lyrics.

Something Warm With Life By Hikari Kondo Any of Fujifabric's songs are highly attractive by somehow. It is probably because we can smoothly overlap our regrets and feelings left in the past with the songs written by Masahiko Shimura.'The Shimmer Of Heat' ('Kagero' in Japanese. English translation of the lyrics is available in Page in this blog.) is the song which vividly reminds me the scene of a hot summer day.When I heard the song for the first time, the part of the lyrics"Surely, there might be many things lost by nowSurely, even though, That person is passing with no change"left a great impression.Not only memories of a fun boyhood, but also Sadness, in which those moments cannot be gained back any more, can be felt from the song.In my opinion, "many things lost by now" are the feelings towards someone or scenes in old days.In this song, I could feel Sadness towards something, which existed there and was taken for granted, eventually goes away at the end when time passes by, and I could also feel nostalgia, longing for himself in childhood.'All About Youth' (' Wakamono No Subete' in Japanese) is my favourite song of all which stroke my heart the most. Every time it gets darker in the evening and I hear the chime at 5 pm, I remember this song nowadays.This is my opinion that the person, whom 'I' want to bring some words to, and the one who repeatedly appears in the lyrics, might be not only a partner or friends but also 'myself' in the past.I, myself, receive courage from its gentle melody and the lyrics of this song. It is because not only Sadness towards the past, which never comes back any more, but also dedicated strength to the coming future, seem to be embeddedin the part, "I quietly and gently start to walk on".Mr. Mashaiko Shimura makes a form of his own memories and traces by singing songs. I think that is why any song of Fujifabric's become alive brings us warmness, and it, somewhere, possesses strength which gives a supportive push forward to listeners. It was my feeling that many of Fujifabric's songs talk to teenagers, like us, the importance of living dearly every moment of our life. I could have met a big power of songs from here, I feel.

Thank you to you, Miss. Hikari Kondo, for allowing me to translate your lovely writings into English. It was my real pleasure. Knowing that teenagers read the lyrics of Shimura kun with a profound insights was just so great. I was also very glad that such attempts have been made in Yamanashi Prefecture, Shimura kun's home.
Wishing more young people enjoy the world of Fujifabric all over the world!

After ten years of time, if these students will be given an opportunity to write about a song of Fujifabric's again, what would they write...I wondered. It must be very interesting to see as they will be at about the same age as Shimura kun when he passed away. What would they write after climbing several steps up stairs of life ?

The Masahiko Shimura Exhibition was held by his close friends and young officers of Fujiyoshida City Hall (as some of his close friends work in the city hall, and other young officers were willing to help as volunteers) again last year, 2012, in his hometown, Fujiyoshida City. What was special this time was that the evening chime at 5 pm in the city was changed to the melody of one of famous Fujifabric's songs, 'All About Youth' (Wakamono no Subete) for the anniversary of Shimura's death on the 24th of December 2012. The event was limited for three days, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of December 2012, but there were also an exhibition of his personal memorabilia including his guitars and musical equipment, and live concerts by his fans.

It is my pleasure to write a report on these events again this year.
Concerning the fact that I, myself, could not attend the events this time, I have no confidence in telling all the stories throughout the course of events, but it is my promise that this report will be written at my best.

22nd December 2012 at 5 pm
The familiar limpid melody of 'All About Youth' (Wakamono no Subete) was beautifully arranged into the sound of chime, and it resounded solemnly across the city of Fujiyoshida.

Please enjoy watching the video on You Tube.

(This video was filmed by Junior Officers Team in Fujiyoshida City Hall at Fuji Goko Cultural Centre on December 22nd, 2012.)

Mr. Shimura used to say, " The view of Mt. Fuji is the most beautiful from here, on the first floor of Fuji Goko Cultural Centre."

Fujiyoshida City where Shimura kun loved the most, Mt. Fuji which always supported him mentally, and Fuji Q Highland Amusement Park where he had the sensational encounter with Tamio Okuda at the age of 15 - they all can be viewed in one sight.
It was the moment that the whole city was enfolded by the melody that Shimura kun left for us.

Executive chairman of Masahiko Shimura's Exhibition, Mr. Masato Watanabe, said, "The chime subsequent to the triumphal concert at The Fuji Goko Cultural Centre in 2008 and the one at Fuji Q Highland Conifer Stage (Fuji Fuji Fuji Q) in 2010, I am very glad that our team could have offered a little help to make Masahiko's dream come true.", in an interview looking deeply moving.

(Members of Team, 'Rojiura No Bokutachi' stringing up a memorable banner on to the front entrance at Gekkoji Station. It says, "Wish Dream Come True! Let Us Listen To You, Fujifabric!" on the banner.)

Captain Masato ( Mr. Masato Watanabe is affectionately called this name.) has been a friend of Shimura kun since 6 years old, and went to the same Primary school and Junior High School with him. They used to live very close by, too.

According to the story of Captain Masato, he started feeling strongly that "I want citizens of Fujiyoshida City to know more about our friend, Masahiko. It may be our duty to tell the people that there was such a great musician coming from this town." when he met many fans who keep showing their warm affection to Shimura kun. He was working as a member of the project team of Exhibition in 2011, too.

Since then, he has been suggesting to the Fujiyoshida City to change the chime rung from the loudspeakers throughout the city.
At about the same time, there were the same requests from some of the citizens, and the dream has come true at last.

"It was our wish to arrange the song, retaining its true value, to the sound of chime.", said the team. The chime has turned out to be simple, heartrending and moving as they wished.

Please allow me to explain more about what 'chime at 5 pm' in Japan is for fans in overseas.

In countryside in Japan, like Yamanashi Prefecture, official disaster radio (officially called 'radio communications for disaster prevention and administration' or 'Bosai Gyosen Musen' in Japanese) takes a great part in our everyday life. The tall loudspeakers are set in every area in the city or the village, and everyone can hear the sound from these speakers without any exception. Official disaster radio is designed for an emergency use, especially for natural disasters where normal telecommunications cannot be used.

In Yamanashi, these speakers are not used only for emergency but also for something even more - more to do with our everyday life. For example, a particular melody is heard from the loudspeakers telling is the time (working as a time signal) normally at 5pm, often in the morning at 11 am or at noon, too. These chime help farmers to know the time without checking his/her watch (Well, not only for the farmers, I guess. As I am often noticed the time by the chime!)

The melody of chime varies between cities, towns and villages.

On the day of the anniversary of the end of Pacific War, of atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the mayor of the city asks the citizens to offer a silent prayer for the souls of the victims through the loudspeakers, too.

On the top of it, some local news can also be heard from the official disaster radio.
For instance, appearance of a wild animal, such as a bear, a monkey, and a wild bow, a remittance fraud, a suspicious person in the area, a missing person, in the area is announced as a warning.

Now can you imagine how great it was for us that Shimura kun's song was used as chime telling the time at 5 pm in Fujiyoshida City?
Can you also imagine how much influence that carried in his hometown?

I have heard that Shimura kun's old neighbours, who have known Masahiko Shimura since little, came outside everyday during these three days to listen to chime at 5 pm praying for him with two hands putting together looking up the winter sky.

"Want to rewind the sequel of the disrupted dream..."
(quoted from the song, 'All About Youth' 'Wakamono no Subete')

It was the day that his friends, his family, close neighbours, Fujiyoshida citizens and Fujifabric fans witnessed that one of Shimura kun's dreams has come true at his hometown.

The next report will be about memorabilia at the exhibition and live concert in Shimoyoshida Club and Fuji Goko Cultural Centrethe on 23rd December 2012.